Cape district: Summer payroll grows by $2 million
At the April 25 Cape school board meeting, Finance Director Oliver Gumbs outlined a state requirement that the district demonstrates it can meet its salary obligation for the payroll period of April 1 through June 30.
The fourth-quarter financial report states the total projected income for the quarter is $29 million, which includes unencumbered balances from the 2024 fiscal year and 2024 fiscal year projected property tax receipts for the period.
Expenditures include seven pay periods at a projected total of $9.7 million, Gumbs said, with total non-salary projected expenditures at $1.8 million. Total projected expenditures for the fourth quarter are $11.5 million, Gumbs said, and the projected available balance is $17.6 million.
When board member Jason Bradley thanked Gumbs for ensuring the district will cover payroll through the end of the year, Gumbs said the federal funds allocated through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund should be thanked.
The district was allocated nearly $11.5 million in ESSER funds, Gumbs said, and of that, $9.8 million has been spent on categories usually paid for with local funds, including education technology, personnel costs, summer school, sanitation, air quality and learning loss.
The remaining ESSER balance is $1.6 million, Gumbs said.
The district will next have to demonstrate it can meet payroll obligations from July 1 through mid-October when tax revenue comes in, Gumbs said. The summer payroll has grown from $6 million to $8 million, Gumbs said.
As the district grows, the number of staff members grows along with payroll obligations, Gumbs said.
With three-quarters of the fiscal year complete, Gumbs said, the district has collected 102.3% of projected local discretionary revenue and 95.6% of projected local non-discretionary revenue for a total revenue of 97.1% of 2024 fiscal year projections.
During a review of the March monthly financial statement, Gumbs said that as of March 29, the district has $69 million in its current reserve/local/holding account balance.
As far as expenses, Gumbs said the local portion of personnel costs is $19.2 million, constituting 54% of the 2024 fiscal year budget, with an average local payroll of $1 million. The figure is $395,000 higher than last year, Gumbs said, which is due to recoding of local personnel expenditures to federal and state funding.
Additionally, Gumbs said, this number is understated as to actual salary costs because the district has been using other available funds and federal money to mitigate growth.
The district is currently over budget by $80,000 in the athletics category, Gumbs said.
“The main reason for the overage is that we had a number of programs that we kept delaying and delaying equipment purchases,” he said.
The budget has been reviewed and steps taken to minimize additional costs, Gumbs said, noting a budget amendment will not be presented.
An amendment was necessary in the minor capital improvements budget, Gumbs said, after the state allocation was inadvertently doubled. Gumbs said he needed to reduce the state allocation by $155,000, and the amended total budget is now $167.5 million.
The board voted to approve both reports; the March monthly financial statement is available at tinyurl.com/5e8a3738 and the fourth-quarter financial report is available at tinyurl.com/mr4dusmb.
